TITLE:
Pattern of Acute Parasitic Diarrhea in Children Under Five Years of Age in Kathmandu, Nepal
AUTHORS:
Shamshul Ansari, Jeevan Bahadur Sherchand, Keshab Parajuli, Bharat Mani Paudyal, Ram Prasad Adhikari, Shovita Shrestha, Shyam Kumar Mishra, Rajan Kumar Dahal, Sarmila Tandukar, Rama Khadka, Ranju Shreshta, Soma Kanta Baral, Bharat Mani Pokhrel
KEYWORDS:
Parasitic Diarrhea; Protozoa; Helminthes; TUTH; Nepal
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Medical Microbiology,
Vol.2 No.3,
September
26,
2012
ABSTRACT: Diarrheal diseases are major problem of developing countries.
Though precise data on childhood mortality associated with diarrheal diseases
in Nepal
is not available, it has been estimated that approximately 25% of child death
are associated with diarrheal disease, particularly acute diarrhea. The purpose
of this study was to assess the incidence of parasitic pathogens causing acute diarrhea in children under 5
years of age. A total of 525 children with acute diarrhea in a children’s
hospital of Kathmandu, Nepal were enrolled between April 2011 and September 2011. The higher prevalence of diarrhea was in the age group of less
than 2 years. Out of total 525 enrolled cases, protozoal parasites were found
in 10.7% (56/525) of cases and helminthic parasites were found in 1.3% (7/525)
of cases. Highest prevalence of 60.3% (38/63) of parasitic infection was found
in the age group of 6 - 24 months followed by 7.9% (5/63) in the age
group of less than 6 months. Of the total enrolled cases E. histolytica were 6.7% (35/525) followed by Giardial lamblia 3.4% (18/525) and the least frequency was due to A. lumbricoides constituting 0.6%
(3/525). The aim of this study was to know the parasitic agents causing acute
diarrhea in children.